GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Five people were sentenced Wednesday for the shooting death of 17-year-old James King.
King, an East Kentwood High School senior, was shot and killed by fellow classmates in a parking lot on Jan. 13.
It happened the parking lot of the Towne and Country Shopping Center at Kalamazoo Avenue and 44th Street SE.
Ahmed Hasan, Kayleb Sims, Alanah Claflin, Israel Valdez and Sebastian Quinones were in Hasan's car. Court documents indicate that Valdez and Claflin set up a marijuana drug deal with King on social media, with the intent to rob him of the drugs. When Valdez tried to steal the weed from King, a fight ensued before Valdez shot King in the face, killing him.
Sebastian Quinones, Ahmed Hasan, Kayleb Douglas Sims, Kayleb Douglas Sims and Israel Valdez were sentenced at the Grand Rapids District Court in connection to King's murder. The five defendants entered into plea deals rather than taking the case to trial.
"After this whole court session, y'all are going to go back and talk to your parents on the phone about how the whole thing went and how y'all felt. We can't talk to James and that was on behalf of all y'all," said King's family member Takeshia Spencer. "That's not fair, so I hope for rest of your life, y'all live miserably because it was unfair for y'all to take James King away from us."
Valdez, the gunman, was sentenced to 23-50 years in prison on charges of 2nd-degree murder. He was also given an additional two years for a felony firearm charge to be served consecutively.
Quinones has been sentenced to 15-40 years in prison the charges of an armed robbery.
Claflin has been sentenced to 10-40 years in prison on the charges of an armed robbery.
Sims and Hasan were both sentenced to five years of probation and one year in the Kent County Jail with credit for time served. 17th Circuit Court Judge Joseph Rossi warned them that one mistake while on probation will land them in prison.
"If you step one inch outside the line, you're going to go to the department of corrections and you'll serve 10 or more years along with the rest of them," Rossi said. "So you remember that when you're walking out there in society, you're not like everyone else - right beside you is the prison doors, it's that far away and all you got to do is screw up once and break the law and I'll give you a one way ticket there and that's my promise today."
All but one of the five who were sentenced addressed King's family by apologizing for their role in the robbery and murder and agreeing to take the opportunity behind bars to change their ways.
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